Tyranna

Thanks for the comment; I WAS actually trying to be serious, although quite frankly rather cynical and tongue-in-cheek at the same time; as it is a serious thread, I would be happier if in keeping with the topic people kept a serious angle on posts...

Good idea, also the idea of having a forward toilet adjacent to all cockpits (they do exist on some short haul and long haul types of plane). Alternatively, airlines may have to bring back the 'Navigator' role, as early jet airliners (De Havilland Comet, VC 10, Boeng 707, etc.), like propeller planes before them had a Navigator/Radio Operator in addition to the pilot and co-pilot. Maybe one of the cabin crew could have to be officially trained up as a standby navigator class/grade of crew member and paid accordingly, much like you get different grades of nurse from 'A all the way to 'H' depending on their level of proficiency and/or special responsibilities. Quite frankly, although the pundits can proclaim until the cows come home that flying is the 'Safest' form of transport compared to the car, for example, if the average number of hours each person flies is placed alongside the average enormous number of hours they travel in a car or walk along roads, the plane soon comes a poor second to the car, and probably comes closer to riding on a bicycle, per hour of travel. Furthermore, I cannot think of one single other form of transport when it is a common occurrence in serious accidents that all lives are lost out of a passenger list frequently numbering over 100 souls, except, perhaps space travel which is still in its infancy. (e.g. Columbia and Challenger disasters). Yes, there are many 'survivable' air crashes, such as the 'Miracle of the Hudson' where all survived, but a crash without deaths outside the runways of an airport is so damn rare that the pilot in such a case deserves and automatic Nobel Prize. Yes, there are ship sinkings and train crashes that may kill tens or hundreds of people, but even there a considerable number often survive; almost 1000 survived in the Titanic as well as the 1300 who died; the Costa Concordia sank at NIGHT and yet only 30 people out of 2000+ died; the Clapham Junction and Moorgate Train crashes in London 30 and 40 years ago each killed around 30 but many hundreds walked away unhurt. If air transport at 500mph in a thin, fragile metal tube fuelled with tons of highly inflammable naphthalene was invented today, the Health and Safety would probably outlaw it immediately for the general public, but when does the public even have the SLIGHTEST say in the design of aircraft, unlike cars;), for example, where many manufacturers actually take on board customer feedback into the next new model? Why not airbags in the back of each seat for passengers behind? Why not PARACHUTES (No, Seriously?):rant: instead of the stupid and useless lifejackets which, if inflated too early, will actually cause passengers to BLOCK the emergency exit doors and prevent others from surviving? Whay not a huge airbag in the front of the aircraft or in its wheel-wells to give the plane a soft landing if it falls to the ground? All these and more Oh, My God, SO SIMPLE ideas could save at least some lives in even some of the most catastrophic accidents, such as the German Wings one. Finally, ONE REALLY sensible form of transport:P (which the Germans were world-famous for originating) the AIRSHIP might well be on the return to the skies; initially for cargo and pleasure flights (See: http://www.hybridairvehicles.com/Passenger/cargo airships of the future). Even if they are a tad slower (Up to 299mph apparently with two jet engines and HUGE fuel economy) maybe this will become the norm for at least short-haul air travel in the next decade, depending on 'safety' issues and the need to manufacture greater amounts of Helium, or using even Hot Air as in hot air balloons, which will be cheaper still.....

The simplest way to save on benefits is to withdraw ALL benefits from Citizens from other EU countries EXCEPT Ireland and possibly also Malta, if they are not working, and also all Child benefit, especially as many other EU workers/unemployed here are claiming child benefits for children back in their home country; this last issue is SO outrageously exploiting our soft touch re. benefits that I'm likely to vote for UKIP because they seem to be the ONLY party which will act immediately to stop it. Why make an exception for Ireland? This is because of the long-term historic relationship between the UK and Ireland, especially the fact that so many Irish and British people 'commute' between each other's countries, especially across the only land border that the UK shares with another EU country. Also in Ireland they speak ENGLISH and drive on the left and so are more eligible to work in the UK job market and vice versa, for example in driving jobs. Why Malta as an exception? Malta is the only other EU country which is also a Commonwealth country, and so should be afforded a special exception. Of course, allowing exceptions to Irish and Maltese benefit claimants/ job applicants will have to include additional precautions to avoid Ireland and Malta being used as 'back doors' by economic asylum seekers, etc. Finally, if anyone from other EU countries wishes to undergo process of naturalisation to become British citizens (Like my own parents) born in other European countries, they will happily be able to enjoy full employment/benefit entitlement the same as UK born citizens. What could be fairer?

Actually, the OP will find plenty of help and similar topics covered here, on the Forum's very own Writers' Thread: http://www.sheffieldforum.co.uk/forumdisplay.php?f=80 I'm writing my debut novel myself, and will hopefully publish later this year. Best of Luck to the OP. ---------- Post added 01-04-2015 at 13:02 ---------- Moderators, please see if you can move this thread to Writers' Group?

Yeah, the big gates went up sometime around 1984, so highly appropriate. There must have been a policeman on point duty ever since it was first the PM's residence, as well as other more discrete officers patrolling or parked outside in cars, particularly at times of great crisis such as WW1 and WW2 when Downing Street would have been such a sensitive target for spies, assassains, etc. In 1984, when the gates were put up, it must have been necessary to revoke the 'Public Right Of Way' status for Downing Street, or has the street been always of special status, for example does it count as 'Royal Estate', like all those vast estates at places like Windsor, Highgrove and Balmoral, etc?

Very bad example of an incident, that; As a cyclist for over 30 years now, I remember when I lived in Sidcup in S.E. London being verbally abused when wearing a cycle helmet, which was in those days a rarity, but kept me safe. On one occasion about 1983 I was abused by two women shouting out of the open side door of a small Suzuki van as it passed me to cross a traffic lights and next thing I heard a huge BANG because it slammed into a Post Office lorry, as the driver was clearly also not looking where he was going; no one seriously hurt but I daresay it taught them a lesson they never forgot!:hihi:

That what REALLY gets me whenever I stay with relatives and actually watch TV, although many American channels are increasingly staggering advert breaks or of course going 'on demand'/premium with no ads at all because after all they get more of their income from subscribers. At home, I have only radio, so usually miss out on all the fun. Thoughtful, well-made ads can be a positive thing, and don't forget, they provide a lot of jobs for people in the acting and filmmaking profession, in between any work as extras/crew on movies and TV shows, but all too often there are many advertisements which don't tell the customer anything new or create unbelievably sanitised worlds...

WELL, did any of you out there get a glimpse of the very rare Eclipse of Venus last night? I managed to see it with the 8X telescope I once got from Netto, You could see Venus as the bright star just to the left of the Moon, until it was briefly eclipsed by the shadow of an asteroid passing between it and the Earth.

If the developers are keeping to more or less the same height and frontage as the current buildings on the site, is it really worth it at all to knock down what's there, considering that the current owners/tenants have improved the attractive old buildings there considerably in the last few decades? Surely a more imaginative and limited redevelopment of the site, such as remodelling the rear of the buildings, or redeveloping the small car-park behind into a garage with a couple o floors above, would be the best option?

Best of luck to the OP in catching the scumbag; I had my (very old knackered) bicycle stolen by an unbelievably bold thief from INSIDE the Barclays Bank on Pinstone Street a few months ago and the police looked at the CCTV, but due to a technical/digital fault the CCTV recording was lost! It is best not to rely entirely on CCTV; probably best to have a couple of independently recording systems in areas where cash is kept/handled just in case; maybe a hidden camera at eye-level to get good images of any suspect?

Dempseys are definitely onto the right thing by offering food all day and until late in the evening; few other gay bars offer such a comprehensive choice of food at all hours, and many which have tried food have dropped it eventually (e.g. Lions Lair about 5 years ago) probably because they have had to spend out too much to update the kitchen, or on getting a committed chef. In Manchester several gay bars such as VIA and Taurus do food and also there are a few gay restaurants; maybe the time is right in Sheffield for a gay bar/restaurant that does regular cabaret with opening hours until 11/midnight, rather than an all-night club with DJ's. I remember when the managers at ICONS said that they would be redoing the kitchen and doing a food menu, but nothing ever came of it, and they moved on. As and when anything further develops on the local scene, I will keep people informed, just to keep you up to date, the monthly LES FEMMES meet-up will be taking place THIS FRIDAY, March 27th, at Dempseys from 8.30 until late. Any TS's TV's and partners/admirers welcome, as well as the normal crowd; Dempseys also usually put on karaoke on Fridays now, so should be an enjoyable night out...

Is this the place that used to be Berlins, then was the original Fuel from 2005 until 2010, then reopened as Gossip early last year, then became Cube from June last year....?

Its probably the spellcheck software's fault, changing 'two' into 'to'. Shoudl be possible to rectify/avoid, particularly for important text like headlines.

You should visit Barnsley then. Even though it is a 'town' when compared alongside Sheffield, there is not even a 7-11 or 24 hour Spar of some sort in the town centre like Rotherham has; there was a newsagent which usually stayed open until 9, but the last time I visited it it had 'shut early' due to 'Staff shortage'. Re. 'bad vibe/atmosphere'; maybe that is partly due to static from the Tram wires? Some people are sensitive to electrical emissions, even from domestic electricity. There are certainly some groups of dodgy looking people hanging around in places like Fitzalan Square, but most of them are probably homeless and will only 'go away' if they can be helped by more of the charities like the Archer Project and Shelter...

Lol First time I spotted this thread, I thought it was some very public-spirited initiative to allow anyone in desperate need to sift through your rubbish to see if there was anything (old clothes, unwanted papers and magazines, unwanted rock-hard pizza or chicken nuggets etc) that they might make use of lol. Would certainly solve the recycling problem, or world hunger, but Africa would regard it as patronising, and Russia would refuse to take our old takeaways because of Trade Sanctions I expect.:hihi:

...I suppose it was inevitable that such a story would break in Sheffield, just down the road from Rotherham, and at least for Rotherham, it is one of the first places where the matter was brought out into the open, and hopefully how Rotherham handles the issue, will be seen as a precedent for all the rest of the country to follow.

Just listening to BBC R4 news at 5pm; there is a report on SYP and their conduct regarding lack of action on historic child abuse; interviews of some former police officers, etc. on the 'size of the exploitation' mainly by Iraqi refugee men was huge. So sad to hear yet another load of revelations about this, but it is best to have it raised and addressed as quickly as possible?

Just heard that ‪#‎TERRYPRATCHETT‬ has passed away. So sad; so many of us have loved his quirky, comical Fantasy writing... Terry has been an influence on my own writing; I am working on a comic urban fantasy novel which includes a hilarious map full of puns and jokes; he must have influenced a LOT of us who write fantasy, to a greater or lesser extent...

I wouldnt be surprised if they settle for Richard Hammond to replace Clarkson as Hammond is also popular and liked by many....

Just came across this video presentation promoting a book on how to survive a 'permanent' blackout of a national grid as a result of a EMP (Electro Magnetic Pulse) caused by an extremely powerful solar flare or a weapon such as a 'conventional' EMP bomb or of course a nuclear weapon. The site mainly refers to the USA national grid, but the suggestion is that it could happen anywhere and also some countries, such as Yemen have kept quiet about major blackouts due to terrorist attack on power lines, etc. See: http://l-bitly.com/k3nw I've heard a bit about this danger before, but on looking at the video, is the danger being over-exaggerated? Certain grid equipment such as transformers CAN burn out but they can be replaced by spare sets within days if not hours and a lot of really heavy gear like generators, cables, etc. won't burn out all in one go. Again there are precautions such as circuit breakers and Faraday Cage housings for a lot of essential equipment and various reserve systems, so surely the dire predictions of a.) the length of time without power and b.) the widespread effects of ensuing breakdown are hopelessly pessimistic. No harm in taking sensible precautions, though such as storage of food, water filtering/boiling devices etc. etc. and keeping an eye on what the authorities are doing to guard against such as risk, but I wouldn't be too bothered about going really overboard on predicting 'Armageddon' by EMP alone... Do feel free to contribute your own views/experience on the matterr, though;)

Intriguing! I used to munch them by the bagful every winter when going to school on the bus when I lived in South London in the 70's... I've always liked Worcester sauce and also Hendersons, but admit the Worcester sauce has much more of a 'kick'. I once even got a bottle of Hendersons for my (non Orthodox) Jewish relatives when they came over on a visit from Israel and joked at the time 'I hope whatever they put in Hendersons is Kosher'.

Maybe they should reverse the traffic flow on the one-way at Angel Street? this would mean that buses woul have to go uphill only there -far safer, but then an alternative 'downhill' route would have to be found on another street? Can't help thinking about the irony of the bus driver having a name like David Cameron, though :-

Yeah, Equality Bar is still very much full of gay people in the evenings when I have been there and the new owners are nice enough, but they need to offer a good choice of music. On the midweek night I was there they were playing just 50's music from the internet on the DJ system, which was unexpected, although I suspect a lot of the people there at the time would have preferred a mix including 80's and up to date music. There's some great music popular with LGBTs from all decades; I do hope Equality Bar work hard on offering a good choiice of music, like Dempseys do. It is a real shame about what happened to Fuel; here today and gone tomorrow, with an absolutely appalling business logic by totally ignoring local talent. If I get the money and/or business partners I would reopen it as a gay club with live rock music on weekends and gradually return it to a live music venue while opening a gay cabaret bar somewhere on West Street to encourage the development of a 'gay village' in a more central location...

This is intriguing; I like puzzles and also puns, for example the similarity of the word 'coat' and 'code'; I've been trying for ages to work out a way that you could 'crack' a coat, but it would have to be made of something solid like concrete to enable this

For any VW Camper fans, a visit to Dempseys' Bar at 1, Hereford St., Moorfoot would be worthwhile, as the downstairs has a DJ box made from a VW camper van and there is a general 'VW camper theme' in the decor. They also do food all day and are open as a club (disco upstairs) until 6am most nights of the week. Please do, however, bear in mind that Dempseys is a gay-run and mostly gay-attended venue so do please show due respect to staff and regulars there, and of course, leave your own VW camper at home unless you have a non-drinking driver